A Detailed Guide to Growing Daisies: Methods and Precautions

Although daisies are small, their flowers are dainty and delicate, and a mass of small daisies looks like little stars in the sky, very beautiful and elegant. Many people love daisies very much, not only for their high ornamental value, but also for their medicinal and beauty benefits. Now let's learn together how to care for daisies!

How to Grow Daisies

1. Transplanting into pots: After the seedlings have been hardened off, they can be potted up. At this point the seedlings already have 3 pairs of true leaves. If plug trays were used for seedling raising, the roots have already filled the trays. For potting, use 300px-caliber nutrition pots. After potting, there is no need to repot. When potting, compound fertilizer can be added as a base fertilizer. After potting, water thoroughly right away to settle the roots. Light regulation: Daisies also like sunlight, including during the growing period and the flowering period. Sufficient light can promote plant growth, with tender green leaves and an increased number of flowers.

2. Temperature control: After potting, move them to a protected area to overwinter, which can prevent potted flowers from suffering cold damage in winter. Daisies can overwinter safely above 5°C, and maintaining a temperature of 18-22°C is most suitable for the formation of good plants. In practice, however, this is hard to achieve. Daisies can flower normally at 10-25°C; when the temperature is below 10°C, growth is relatively slow, the plant shape becomes smaller, and flowering is delayed. If the temperature is above 25°C, the flower stems will elongate, and both growth vigor and flowering will decline. In May and June, as the temperature rises, growth vigor and flowering are less than ideal, so autumn-sown seedlings are generally used to avoid the environment of rising temperatures after May.

3. Water and fertilizer management: Daisies like fertile soil, and the base fertilizer in the medium alone cannot meet their growth needs. So topdress once every 7-10 days; you can use flower fertilizer, or use compound fertilizer for spot application or dissolve it in water for watering, at a concentration of 200-250ppm. However, spot application of compound fertilizer is not as quick-acting as watering. So if conditions permit, water-soluble flower fertilizer can be used alternately. But in winter, the amount of flower fertilizer used should be reduced, and before applying liquid fertilizer, the medium should be allowed to dry slightly, moist but not wet. Because its leaves are clustered at the base, if there is no ventilation, the basal leaves are very likely to rot and become infected with pathogens. Giving sufficient water and fertilizer during the growing season makes it grow lushly and also prolongs the flowering period.

Daisy Cultivation Methods

1. Sow seeds in potted seedling beds from the end of August to the beginning of September. After sowing daisies, they must not be exposed to the sun; shade with curtain cloth, and do not cover with transparent film. When the daisy seedlings emerge, remove the curtain cloth.

2. When two or three leaves have grown in the pot soil, begin dividing and planting. The daisy roots are bare, without original soil; keep the pot soil moist and water appropriately. When the pot soil becomes dry, after shading with curtain cloth for 2-3 days, water appropriately.

3. Loosen the soil and turn it over two days later. After growth, prevent the leaves and stems from becoming leggy. Apply an appropriate amount of fertilizer in the pot. The following year the plant shape will be short and sturdy, with strong stress resistance, and the flowers will be large, full and brightly colored.

4. Daisies are cold-resistant, but afraid of wind drying and frost. Determine the thickness of the matting according to the weather conditions and the growth of the flower seedlings, which can effectively control their flowering period and leggy growth of the seedlings.

5. After one or two transplants in autumn, in spring they can be directly planted out into flower beds when flowering. Those not transplanted in autumn can be grown into shape in spring in pot soil with sufficient base fertilizer.

6. When planting out, use leaf mold as the base fertilizer. After planting out, water about once every week.

7. Daisies have low fertilizer requirements, so there is no need to fertilize too frequently. Apply thin fertilizer once every 2-3 weeks, cultivate the soil once a month, and stop fertilizing after flowering in February.

Precautions for Growing Daisies

During the growing period, daisies are not tolerant of shade and cold, and like sunny places. Therefore, they should be placed on a balcony and kept photosynthesizing at all times.

If daisies have not been divided and transplanted after autumn, at the end of autumn the seedlings and buds can be lifted from the pot, separated, with a little original soil kept on the roots, then grab a handful of moist soil rich in humus fertilizer, and spray to keep it moist, to promote vigorous growth of the fibrous roots.

Sowing Time

Daisies like cool climates and dislike heat; they like light and are also tolerant of partial shade. The suitable temperature for seed germination is 22-28°C, and the suitable temperature for growth is 20-25°C. The seeds are very small, with 4900-6600 seeds per gram. They are mostly sown in September, while in the Zhejiang area sowing generally begins in late July, mostly from late July to mid-August, and when sown at this time New Year's Day is the peak flowering period.

From the above, I believe everyone has gained some understanding of daisy cultivation techniques. Many flower lovers like to grow them at home. As potted daisies, they indeed have very good effects in purifying the air and decorating spaces, but you must master the correct care techniques!